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Ali’s twin sons saw it all. They saw their dad shouting at their mother. They saw him smash a door and shards of glass glinting on the floor. And they saw the police officers, after their mum called for help.

And how did these six-year-old boys feel? Ali* clears his throat. This is not an easy thing to talk about. “Very frightened. They probably lost their trust with me.”

But he says he was relieved, pleased even, his wife called the police to their Melbourne home after he shouted and smashed things. It was not the first time.

The visit from police became a line in the sand, a turning point.

“I knew that what I was doing was wrong, but I didn’t know what to do about it. I was always aware it wasn’t the proper behaviour,” he says.

A court appearance followed, a humiliating experience he never wants to repeat. Ali pleaded guilty to wilful damage and had an intervention order issued against him. Punishment came in the form of a one-year good behaviour bond, and he was ordered to do a behaviour change program.

Men’s behaviour change programs, many with long waiting lists, have become a common penalty meted out to perpetrators of family violence who come before the courts.

But until now, there has been little Australian research.

Now a comprehensive snapshot of 300 Australian men who use violence, and their partners (or ex-partners), over two years, gives cause for optimism. The Monash University study found:

The number of men inflicting violence fell by half across all categories of abusive behaviour, from physical violence to demeaning behaviour.

Their violence didn’t just shift from one area to another. It reduced in all areas, with 65 per cent of the men reporting they were either no longer violent, or almost violence-free, after two years.

About 80 per cent of men saw their abusive behaviour as serious two years after their program finished, compared with 60 before the program.

It was surprising to find the men who improved the most had been ordered by a court to do the program, said co-author Professor Thea Brown, from the uni’s Department of Social Work.

Men’s behavioural change are not an anger-management courses. The counsellors and psychologists who run them try to increase an abuser’s empathy for their victims, and talk about how stereotypical gender roles can be damaging to women.

“Often we have to go back to the grassroots and talk about respect for the views of others,” says Pam Wilkie-Clark, who runs the men’s specialist service at Bethany, in Geelong. The men in her programs often view assertive behaviour from their partners as being aggressive.

Partner’s views on the program varied considerably, Professor Brown said. Those who stayed with the man, or new partners, were very positive. But those who had left were negative, feeling the program had either not protected them, or came too late to matter. ‘That frustration inside me, sometimes it’s hard to cope with’. Ali

During his six-month program at Bethany, Ali realised his approach to parenting was quite different to his wife, and he got very angry at her approach. She was very relaxed while he wanted a strict routine. The main thing he took away from the program was that everyone, including his wife, was entitled to personal choice.

And not everything has been resolved. Before the police were called in, Ali had been to a counsellor a few times about his abusive outbursts. He says he will go back.

“I still sometimes become really frustrated. I don’t react, I never externalise it. But that frustration inside me, sometimes it’s hard to cope with.”

Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence recommended a boost to heavily over-subscribed men’s behavioural change programs. In the most recent budget $1 million was put towards these programs.

The research was funded by Violence Free Families, and will be available online soon.

Overview

This year has seen the near-completion of our longitudinal study into the outcomes of men’s behaviour change programs by Monash University and preparation for delivering our new online men’s behaviour change program on a large scale.

Research

Data collection for the research study was completed in October and Professor Emeritus Thea Brown, our lead researcher, has presented preliminary findings to numerous organisations, including the Royal Commission into Family Violence, the Australian Institute of Family Studies, the Department of Health and Human Service (Vic) and other interested organisations.

The key finding is that the programs work, they work well and they work in the long term. This is the largest study ever conducted in Australia, one of very few in the world and contributes substantially to removing past doubts about the outcomes of programs. In addition to the headline findings, there is a great deal of detail that will assist in developing future programs, especially in the area of parenting.

The Online Behavior Change Program

The fourth online men’s behaviour change program ran from February to May and was very successful. We confidently expect that the University of Melbourne’s evaluation report will be as positive as the reports on previous programs.

Clients from three States, regional and urban, and from indigenous and ethnically diverse communities participated. This confirmed the universal need for the program and the reasons that drove this initiative in the first place. We aim to start regular program provision in 2017.

Rotary Exchange Ambassadorships

In February, Rotary District 9800, the Rotary Club of Balwyn and Violence Free Families awarded the first annual Rotary Exchange Ambassadorship for family violence prevention professionals. The Australian awardee, Superintendent Matthew Ryan, deputy head of Victoria Police’s Family Violence prevention unit, travelled to New Orleans and other parts of the USA for eight weeks, gathering information that will benefit the Victorian and Australian community. The incoming exchange ambassador, Marie-Claire Landry from New Orleans, visited Victorian organisations and addressed the District 9800 Annual Conference in Bendigo.

Funding and Community Support

Our Ambassador, Colleen Hewett and her manager, Danny Finley, continued to support us and publicise our cause. They presented to a sold-out concert in Bendigo and Colleen did radio and TV interviews and continued to air her anti-violence anthem, ‘Let me Breathe’.

We welcomed the continuing official recognition of our programs by Rotary. Generous donations were received from Women in Rotary and clubs, as well as philanthropic trusts and individual donors. Many family violence prevention presentations were made to community organisations, spreading awareness of family violence and our contributions to prevention.

Just under half a million Australian women reported that they had experienced physical or sexual violence in the past 12 months, according to the Domestic Violence Prevention Centre and over a million women have experienced physical or sexual assault by their current or ex-partner since the age of 15. These figures demonstrate a great need for significant reform in the area of domestic and family violence.

With the Victorian Government committing $527 million to addressing domestic and family violence earlier this year, the NSW Government followed suit and pledged $300m in June. It is vital that not for profit agencies implement strategies to increase their scalability and capacity to continue delivering important services.

Two thirds of violent men who attend behaviour change programs completely stop abusing their families within two years, but they always fear slipping back into their old ways.

The first Australian study into the long-term effects of interventions for domestic violence perpetrators found that court-ordered participants in behaviour change programs were the most likely to stop being violent.

Monash University followed men who attended behaviour change programs in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia for two years after they completed the program.

Monash social work professor Thea Brown said 65 per cent of men were classed as violence-free at the end of the study. This meant they no longer physically, emotionally or sexually abused their partners, or made them afraid.

“That’s a good outcome. The men do improve considerably,” Professor Brown said. “It shows that the programs are effective.” After the initial three-month program, most men continued to use professional help to remain violence-free.

Men who had been ordered by the courts to attend a behaviour change program did better than their peers. Professor Brown suggested this could be because they were more tightly monitored, had been rattled by their court experience, or feared the legal consequences if they didn’t succeed at changing their behaviour.

All the men said it was difficult to remain violence-free. “None of them ever felt they were in a secure position and wouldn’t slip back,” Professor Brown said. “It’s very hard to do as well as they should every day of the year.”

One man said: “I only feel confident when I’m doing the program.”

This daily battle was identified by some of the men’s partners who contributed to the study. “He’s good most days, not every day,” one woman said of her partner. Overall most women were optimistic about the future with their formerly violent partners.

Half the men had broken up with their partners before they started the behaviour change program. Forty per cent of the program participants were born overseas.

Older men who were in relationships and had a higher standard of education were marginally more likely to permanently change their behaviour. However Professor Brown said: “We still don’t know why some men change and some men don’t.”

Men said the program facilitators, rather than the actual content, made the difference to them. They also liked the group dynamic. “They found a lot of individual support, they felt they were being accepted by other people, they felt less evil,” Professor Brown said.

Men were disappointed the programs didn’t provide any help with their parenting.

The programs failed to reduce the incidence of mental illness among domestic violence perpetrators. Thirty per cent of violent men have mental health problems. The programs did halve the incidence of alcohol and substance abuse.

Professor Brown said her research, which was funded by Violence Free Families, showed there was a need for closer monitoring of participants in men’s behaviour change programs, and proper exit assessments that could refer men to ongoing support services. Parenting advice also needs to be provided.

Police Superintendent Matthew Ryan has been selected to represent District 9800 on a vocational exchange of experts in family violence being arranged between Rotary District 9800 and District 6840, centred on New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The exchange program is supported by Violence Free Families. Matthew is the sole superintendent in the Victoria Police Family Violence Command established in March 2015. He leads a team of 50 staff working collaboratively to prevent and reduce the harm caused by child abuse, sexual assault, and family violence.

Superintendent Ryan will travel to the United States for two weeks in late March. He will be hosted there by local Rotarians and will study the work of police and other agencies involved with domestic violence. He will also speak at the District 6840 Conference being held at the Island View Casino & Resort in Gulfport, Louisiana.

District 6840 has also selected an expert in the field to spend two weeks in Victoria looking at ways the various agencies here tackle the growing problem of family violence. That person will speak at the District 9800 Conference in Bendigo on 12th March.

This exchange of vocational leaders in the field grew out of the very successful Group Study Exchange (GSE) run between Districts 9800 and 6840 in March and April 2015. At the time of that GSE, the team leaders, DGN Peter Frueh (9800) and Carl Michel (6840) agreed that domestic violence was a major issue in both communities and that by having a vocational exchange of this sort the relationship between our two Rotary Districts would be enhanced in a meaningful way. It is intended that the exchange will be hosted by each District for two weeks each year for three years.

Superintendent Matthew Ryan says that “This exchange will inspire me to be innovative in the way I lead police to combat family violence in Victoria. I feel privileged to be selected and am very grateful to Rotary for allowing me to represent Victoria in this way.” He is keen to create positive lasting links with family violence professionals in the USA.

Prior to establishing the Family Violence Command, Matthew was the Superintendent in charge of the Victoria Police State Emergency Response Division. He was the Police Commander for the Murrindindi and Mitchell Shires for three months during and after the 2009 Black Saturday fires. He has worked in metropolitan and rural Victoria as a police operative, detective, supervisor and manager. From 2001, he spent five years planning and delivering the security overlay for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

In 2008, Matthew was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Chadstone – East Malvern as a participant in the first Rotary Victoria Police Leadership Mentoring Program. He is an accomplished speaker and has spoken at Rotary Clubs, police conferences and various community forums.

Matthew has been married for 29 years. He and his wife have four sons.

His trip has been made possible by a travel grant from the Rotary Club of Balwyn. The leadership of District 9800 and Violence Free Families are very appreciative of the Balwyn Club’s generous support of this new vocational exchange and wishes to place on record their grateful thanks to the club.

In the past six months, significant milestones were passed on our two major projects and we enjoyed the continued warm and enthusiastic support of our Ambassador Colleen Hewett and her manager, Danny Finley, as well as that of several major donors and many smaller ones.

The Online Men’s Behavior Change Program

Following the excellent evaluation report by the University of Melbourne, we signed a contract with On the Line Australia for the provision of the first regular online men’s behaviour change program, to commence in February, 2016.

This has required a revision of program documentation, assisting OTL with systems for implementation and OTL staff training.

At the same time, we are seeking registration of the program in NSW and the extensive documentation required for this process is well advanced.

Research

Data collection for our research study into the long term results of conventional men’s behaviour change programs was completed and analysis and documentation is in progress. Publication of results and two seminars for professionals are planned for the next half year.

Fund Raising and Community Relations

Colleen Hewett and some outstanding performers gave a concert in October to a near-capacity audience in the new Bendigo Ulumbarra Theatre and generously donated part of the proceeds to VFF.

Our programs could not have continued without the generous support of several philanthropic trusts and we are most grateful to them.

We welcomed the continuing official recognition of our program by Rotary, and our information stand at the annual Australia-New Zealand Rotary Zone Institute Meeting in Sydney was very well-patronised. Members of Violence Free Families addressed many clubs and organisations in the half-year period, spreading awareness of family violence and our contribution to prevention.

Governance

The Board was delighted to welcome new Director Gabe Hau in November and his contributions have already been of great value.

The Rotary Club of Glen Eira and the Carnegie Cricket Club will be hosting a Summer Community Luncheon to Prevent Domestic Violence in the club rooms at Koornang Park, Carnegie on Saturday 30th of January 2016 from 12:30pm – 2:30pm.

An opportunity exists for a suitably qualified individual, with expertise in the area of domestic violence, to travel to Louisiana, USA from 28th March to 10th April 2016. The trip will be sponsored by Rotary District 9800 (Victoria, Australia) and Rotary District 6840 (Louisiana & Mississippi, USA). A similarly qualified person from the southern part of the United States will come to Melbourne for 2 weeks in early March.

OVERVIEW: Each host District will arrange a program of occupational visits, networking and study opportunities, as well as home hosting, for the selected person. The ambassador selected will be expected to give a 20 minute presentation at the Conference of the host Rotary District. The District 6840 Conference will be held in Gulfport, Mississippi from 7th to 10th April.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION: The selected candidate should:

Have demonstrated professional expertise in the area of domestic violence.

Preferably have had experience in creating positive change in the area.

Be a person whose career development will be enhanced by this exchange.

Be prepared to have an ongoing relationship with Rotary after the exchange.

Not be a Rotarian. (Family members of Rotarians may apply.)

Be prepared to create a wish list for his or her exchange and assist with planning the detail of the exchange.

Be prepared to cooperate with and work with the reciprocal exchangee in the planning and implementation of the exchange.

Have good public speaking skills and preferably media skills.

Be prepared to deliver a 20 minute presentation at the Rotary District Conference. The presentation should not merely outline the magnitude of the problem of domestic violence. Practical approaches and successful outcomes to the problem should be highlighted.

Be prepared to speak at Rotary clubs during the exchange period if requested.

Be available to travel during the specified 2 week period.

COST: Costs for the chosen ambassador will be minimal. District 9800 will provide $AUD3000 to cover the cost of a return economy air fare and some money to cover incidentals. District 6840 will provide accommodation through home hosting and will assist with travel within its district.

SELECTION: Candidates will be asked to provide an essay of intent (guidance – around 1000 words or two pages) and two written references. Candidates will be interviewed by a panel of Rotarians and experts in the field.

Applications close on Friday 18 December 2015 and should be forwarded to Dr Murray Verso at the email address below.

CONTACT: If you wish to apply for the domestic violence vocational exchange, or require more information, please contact:

Violence Free Families works for the elimination of all forms of family violence. We believe that Research, Innovation and Education can help improve the lives of vulnerable children and women, and help curb the incidence of family violence.